These Velvet Rims
by Ryoshu Kin
Summary: What if things went differently? The boys get a chance to say goodbye. NearxMattxMello, implied LightxL if you squint.


These Velvet Rims

What if things had gone differently? The boys get a chance to say good-bye and move on. This is set after "About Dying", but you don't have to read it to understand this

I don't own Death Note... (Can I just have Matt and Mello? Please! I'll be nice to them!) This is another alternate ending to DN.

Near leaned back against the motorcycle and waited. There wasn't another custom job like this one anywhere in the UK. Only Matt could have built it, and there was no way Mello would abandon something that had once been a Ferrari, so it was only a matter of time.

"Near?"

The pale boy tilted his fedora back and took in the the blonde before him from beneath the brim; long legs incased in leather, one hip jutting out, gloved hands settled over exposed hip bones, and head tilted curiously. Near smiled smugly and asked, "New bike?"

Mello glared at him, "The last one was crushed horribly when I wrecked the truck, but you knew that, didn't you?"

"The porsche." Near confirmed, "It, coincidentally, crushed your 'passenger' and saved your life."

Mello smirked and patted the leather seat, "The bitch deserved to die, but the bike didn't so Matt salvaged what he could. This is its reincarnation."

"It's nice. You're lucky to have Matt around." Near commented.

"Luck had nothing to do with it, Matt had two layers of reinforced kevlar and blood bags on under his vest." Mello slung a leg over the bike and patted the seat behind him, "I promised I'd keep him safe."

Near made a small, unconvinced sound. "And you waited almost a month to call and tell me you were alive? The crash was worse than you let on."

Mello went very still under Near's hand's when the younger boy braced himself on Mello's shoulders and mounted behind him. "I was in a coma for a week, and it took a little more than two for the worst of the injuries to heal."

Near rested his chin against Mello's shoulder and whispered, "I cried, Mello. I cried myself to sleep every night. Is that the emotion you always wanted me to show?"

Mello shuddered hard and turned to brush his lips across Near's cheek. "You know it's not."

"I know." Near's lips barely moved when he smiled, "Let's go home."

Mello silently handed Near the white helmet that had been hanging on the handle bars and revved the engine. The bike sounded like a huge cat purring contentedly and ran like a cheetah. Near couldn't bite back the small sound of excitement that escaped him when Mello roared out of the parking lot and onto the highway. He had to tighten his hold on his hat to keep it from being ripped out of his hand.

The house was an old two-story, missing a shutter here and there. The entire thing was painted in shades of grey that fit in quite nicely with the poor neighborhood where it was situated. No one would ever suspect anything; most of the neighbors were probably engaged in one illegal activity or another anyway.

Mello must have fussed with his key a second too long at the door, because Matt's sleepy voice came from within, "Mello, hang on, I got it. It takes you way to long to find the key to this dump..." The door swung open to reveal the red head in all his sleep tousled glory, worn jeans clinging frailly to his hips and pale, smooth chest exposed under his vest. "Where'd you go, anyway? Not for more chocolate..." He took a long sip from the chipped up mug in his hand and finally managed to pry one green eye all the way open. "Oh, Hey Near. Did Mello pick you up?"

Near chuckled slightly, "You know it can never be that easy with Mello, Matt. It's always been a game between us."

Matt chuckled to, albeit sleepily, "So you had to track him down. I bet the new bike was a dead give away."

"Sometimes I think he lets me win because he wouldn't know what to do with himself once he finally beat me." Near conceded as he crossed the room to curl in Mello's arm chair. Mello himself had gone to tuck the bike in the garage.

The inside of the house didn't match the exterior at all. It was... Nice. Not an interior decorator's dream, but certainly homey.

Matt gave a little snort, leaning on the back of the chair and petting Near absently. "You sent Lidner to leak information to us and bring information back to you. Seriously, is it too much to ask for you two to work together directly?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Mello tossed the keys to Matt and the redhead caught and pocketed them in a practiced gesture. "Near can't do the things I can do, it would stain his reputation."

Near nodded his agreement and leaned a little more into Matt's petting. "We have to masquerade for the world, but right here, right now, we can be real."

Matt's arms surrounded Near. "I missed you. Can we not repeat this case... Ever..."

"I think that would be a reasonable request. Are we ready to go?"

Matt tossed his vest over the back of the couch and shrugged on a striped T-shirt. "Now we are."

Near gave a low whistle of appreciation for Mello's new car. The make and model were unrecognizable, a complete custom job, but it looked like an older model sports car. No ordinary person would realize that it had a past life as scrap metal and spare parts; a benefit of having Matt on the team.

He ran his pale hand across the low hood and wondered what Matt had done to get Mello to agree to the paint job. Each ridge and seam in the metal had a zipper painted along it, silvery blue against black, so that the car ended up looking like one of Mello's jackets.

"I take it you like?" Mello asked, petting the car like a favorite animal, "Wait till you see what she can do..."

The car really was amazing. Mello wasn't even driving at full speed and it seemed to fly. They arrived at the graveyard sooner than Near would have liked; the only downside to the incredible speed.

The iron gates seemed to loom against the clear blue sky and Mello pushed his sunglasses further up his nose as he took it in. "This is it... I guess it's time."

Near nodded and Matt rested a hand on his shoulder as the blonde unlocked the gate.

The three heirs bypassed the statue, casting only a brief, sad glance at the marble angel with L's face. "Victims of Kira, Rest in Peace." was carved along the arc of his wings, the curling text familiar and wrenching.

L's grave was on a small hill beneath the curling branches of an ancient tree. Ironically, L was laid to rest next to Kira. In another life, they could have been friends.

"Light Yagami, Who Fought Kira as Long as He Could." Near traced the engraving with his finger. No human could be that evil on their own; he'd felt the call of the Death Note, it cried for blood. "Poor Light, you could have been something great..."

L's headstone was a silent, black-marble testament to a man the world never really knew. "Ryuuzaki... Lawliet, I think I understand now. You didn't fail..." Near slowly sank to his knees on his mentor's grave... His brother's grave...

Mello settled his hands on Near's quivering shoulders and looked toward heaven. "We'll carry on in your place. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Good-bye, L." Matt whispered finally, laying a bouquet of white lilies on his grave.

They paused briefly over Watari's grave and paid their silent respects. Then Raye's and Naomi's. Mello stopped to beg redemption from the former leader of the Kira Investigation Team, leaving a single flower on his grave.

Finally they returned to Light's grave. "Isn't it funny, Light. If you hadn't picked up the Death Note, you might have been friends." Mello murmured as he settled thirteen blood-red roses in the vase atop the headstone. "I'm sorry it came to this."

Near looked back as they walked away. There were two figures leaning side by side against the trunk of the tree but when he looked closer, they were gone. "Good-bye... Light... L. Take care of each other." He whispered, and a small smile curved his lips as he joined Matt and Mello at the car. They could move on now... L would want that.


End file.
